Europe, led by France, wants a seat at Canada's defence procurement table. It's a not-unreasonable request, given that the prize being sought, as French President Françoi s Hollande pre pare s for his first state visit to Canada on Sunday, is merely a level playing field, as opposed to the stacked deck that has so often characterized this country's military purchases. In an exclusive interview, Herve Guillou, who heads France's majority stateowned military shipbuilder, DCNS, said the company is "keen and eager" to begin discussions with Halifaxbased Irving Shipbuilding, with a view to offering both a design and combat systems...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.fbi.gov/houston/press-releases/2012/russian-agent-and-10-other-members-of-procurement-network-for-russian-military-and-intelligence-operating-in-the-u.s.-and-russia-indicted-in-new-york Russian Agent and 10 Other Members of Procurement Network for Russian Military and Intelligence Operating in the U.S. and Russia Indicted in New York Defendants Also Include Texas- and Russia-Based Corporations; 165 Persons and Companies ‘Designated’ by Commerce Department U.S. Attorney’s Office October 03, 2012 BROOKLYN, NY—An indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York charging 11 members of a Russian military procurement network operating in the United States and Russia, as well as a Texas-based export company and a Russia-based procurement firm, with illegally...

Since experienced military officers have been removed from the procurement system, the only people who now judge whether or not a weapon or a piece of equipment is ready to go into service are the Pentagon's lawyers, accountants and political appointees. The power of lobbyists also grows directly out of the system's lack of direct military involvement. It is time to scrap the whole procurement system and return control of the purchase of weapons to the uniformed military. The US military is facing potentially catastrophic funding cuts due to last year's so-called "sequestration" deal between the President and the Republicans...

Azerbaijan angered its neighbor, Iran, when it recently purchased $1.6 billion in military equipment from Israel. Details of this purchase were never mentioned, but now the veil of secrecy is being lifted. Among the items ordered were Gabriel anti-ship missiles. These are 522 kg (1,150 pound) weapons with a range of 36 kilometers. Azerbaijan will use these to protect its Caspian Sea coast from the growing number of Iranian warships being introduced in the area. Also obtained were five Heron and five Searcher UAVs. The Israeli Heron TP is a 4.6 ton aircraft can operate at 14.g kilometers (45,000 feet)....

The X-35 Joint Strike Fighter demonstrator performs flight tests at Edwards Air Force Base, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The tortured path of the Pentagonâ€™s biggest weapon program is beginning to look like a case study in poor management. The problem isnâ€™t the F-35 fighter, which is making steady progress towards becoming the best tactical aircraft ever built. The problem is a federal acquisition culture that has grown so risk-averse it no longer cares about long-term consequences. That bureaucratic myopia will be in abundant display next month, when the Department of Defense releases updated cost estimates for the fighter program. The...

Canada's auditor general has both National Defence and Public Works in his sights when it comes to the troubled F-35 stealth fighter program, say senior government sources. A draft copy of the scathing review, circulating in Ottawa for weeks, suggests the air force didn't do its pricing homework and government officials failed to follow procurement rules, say those who've read it. It's not clear whether the language will be toned down in the final report, Michael Ferguson's first as auditor general, when it's released April 3. But federal officials familiar with the document note no final decision on purchasing the...

We made two stops for this Cool Schools report: Leesburg, Va. and the White House. A team of fifth graders came up with an invention so impressive, the President of the United States even noticed! Learning about the war in Afghanistan could be pretty daunting and the graphic scenes can be scary, but for these 11 year olds, it was a motivation to do something positive. Jack Dudley, a student at Stone Hill Middle School in Ashburn, Va. told us, "Our inspiration for the project...Specialist Robert Warren lost part of his skull in an IED blast in Afghanistan." Virginia 5th...

The Army is looking at an improved combat helmet that surpasses the capabilities of what Soldiers are currently wearing in the field, and it may be available in the fall. The new Enhanced Combat Helmet doesn't look much different than the Advanced Combat Helmet it's designed to replace, but the performance difference is huge, said Col. William Cole, project manager, Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment. "If you hold them in your hand, you'd have a tough time telling the difference, other than the relative thickness," Cole said during a media roundtable Feb. 2 in the Pentagon. "The ECH is a...

: Less than three years after establishing an Air Wing in a combat zone (Afghanistan), Canada is seeking buyers for the Wing's major asset, five recently purchased CH-47 medium transport helicopters. Canadian troops are leaving Afghanistan later this year, and the government feels there is too little use for the CH-47s in Canada, nor any likely use for them in future peacekeeping operations. Canada spent over $250 million to buy six CH-47s for use in Afghanistan, and one was later lost to ground fire. The Canadian Air Wing has six leased Russian made Mi-8 transport helicopters, five U.S. made CH-47...

After months of contentious of disagreement, the U.S. Air Force is coming around to agreeing with U.S. Navy claims that the F-35 will cost much more to maintain, rather than (as the F-35 promoters assert) less. It was a year ago that the U.S. Navy, after nervously watching as the manufacturing costs of the new F-35C and F-35B carrier aircraft increase, concluded that these aircraft would also be a lot more expensive to maintain. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff or F-18C fighter aircraft. The...

The U.S. F-35 will be delayed yet again, and one of the three versions may be cancelled. The new service date for the F-35 appears to be a year later now, in 2015, although the U.S. Air Force is being a bit vague on this point. Not so vague is the Department of Defense, which has put the vertical takeoff (F-35B VTOL) version on two years probation. If a growing list of problems with the F-35B are not fixed by then, the VTOL version will be cancelled. Meanwhile, it looks like the F-35A (air force) and F-35C (navy carrier) versions...

The Pentagon’s most recent per-unit target price for the conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is $111.6 million, according to program officials. The target price for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) version, which has encountered the most challenging technical and testing problems, is $109.4 million, the F-35 Joint Program Office says. And the target cost for the most expensive variant — the carrier version (CV) — is $142.9 million, officials say. The price data traditionally has not been publicly released, but the program office released these figures to Aviation Week in response to questions. Neither price includes the cost...

Two years ago the Obama Administration made significant changes to the U.S. defense budget as they came into office. One area that formed a major part of these changes was tactical aircraft. Production of the F-22 advanced fighter was capped and efforts were focused on the new Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). The three variants of the JSF were to equip the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. Boeing (BA) who made the F-22 along with Lockheed Martin (LMT) could see a future where they were not making any aircraft for the U.S. military. The F-22 and the C-17 transport...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Acquisition Reform Plays Key Role in Pentagon’s Cost Savings By Lisa Daniel American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 15, 2010 – The Defense Department has the opportunity to save billions of taxpayer dollars through acquisitions reform, but only if it grows its workforce with the right federal workers in place to oversee contracts, a senior Pentagon official said today. “There is a significant opportunity to save billions of dollars, but only if we have a well-trained and sufficient workforce,” Shay Assad, the acting director of the department’s procurement and acquisition policy, said during...

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy are having a major disagreement over how much it will cost to operate the new F-35 fighter. It comes down to this. Currently, it costs the navy, on average, $19,000 an hour to operate its AV-8 vertical takeoff aircraft, or an F-18C fighter aircraft. These two aircraft are being replaced, on carriers, with the F-35. It costs 63 percent more to operate the F-35C (480 will be bought to replace navy F-18Cs) and the F-35B (340 will replace marine F-18s and AV-8s). These costs include buying the aircraft, training and maintaining the pilots,...

The large-scale contract for the purchase of new fighter jets for the Bulgarian Air Force will be concluded in 2012 at the earliest, Defense Minister Anyu Angelov announced. Speaking before the military parade in Sofia dedicated to Army Valor Day (May 6, also St. George’s Day), Angelov reminded that the Bulgarian Air Force was the most serious challenge for the country’s Defense Ministry. He admitted that the project for equipping the Bulgarian Air Force with new fighter jets – which has dragged on for about 10 years – had been delayed because of lack of funds since it will be...

The U.S. Air Force's top civilian warned his aerospace suppliers to expect an increased Pentagon focus on affordability amid mounting international competition. Nearly all components of the service's budget, including personnel costs, are growing faster than the overall Air Force budget, Secretary Michael Donley told a kickoff meeting of a Senate caucus aimed at promoting a strong, secure and competitive U.S. aerospace industry. "Global competition alone would make it imperative for our friends in the defense industry to reduce costs if they want to continue to be competitive in an increasingly sophisticated and capable international market for defense goods and...

Delays and cost overruns for the Lockheed Martin F-35 have not changed the US Air Force's plans to deactivate about 250 fighters later this year, says its chief of staff, Gen Norton Schwartz. The USAF, however, has begun destructive tests on Boeing F-15s and Lockheed F-16s to prove the viability for a potential service life extension programme, says Schwartz. "At 10-15% of the cost [of a new fighter] you could perform a service life extension programme," Schwartz says, "which would get us close to where we need to be in, we think, a more affordable way." Schwartz rejected buying the...

When the Pentagon’s top buyer appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee, most observers expected Ash Carter to tell lawmakers just how much each F-35 costs and how much the plane is likely to cost over time. That didn’t happen. Winslow Wheeler, a bipartisan conagreassional defense budget expert now at the Center for Defense Information, penned a detailed analysis and commentary picking apart the Pentagon’s numbers and their underlying assumptions. One area sure to spark disagreement is his discussion of F-35 production. This plane is supposed to be the first advanced fighter built on the closest thing to an assembly...

South Korea has been digging into North Korean weapons smuggling efforts, and has found an elaborate, and widespread network of organizations and people that make it all work. What gave South Korea an opportunity to penetrate this web of deception was the recent seizure of an Il-76 transport carrying 40 tons of North Korean weapons. The weapons laden Il-76 jet transport seized in Thailand last December turned out to be the third such aircraft to pass over Thailand recently. U.S. intelligence has been tracking cargo transports flying out of North Korea, and an increasing number of these flights take the...

DOD’s major weapon systems programs continue to take longer to develop, cost more, and deliver fewer quantities and capabilities than originally planned. DOD also continues to face long-standing challenges managing service contracts and contractors. For example, the oversight of service contracts has been recognized as a material weakness in the Army... Several underlying systemic problems at the strategic level and at the program level continue to contribute to poor weapon systems acquisition. The total acquisition cost of DOD’s 2007 portfolio of major programs has grown by 26 percent over initial estimates... DOD largely continues to define warfighting needs and make...

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that the Pentagon will hold a new, fast-tracked competition to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, a move that overturns the previous award of the contract to Northrop Grumman. The decision follows criticism of the selection process by the Government Accountability Office and underscores the sharp divisions over the contract. The deal to replace the Air Force's entire fleet could be worth up to $100 billion over the next two decades. Gates said he expects the Pentagon to choose a new winner by the end of the year. On...

U.S. Barriers Hamper Our Military Spending by David J. Bercuson (Canadian) LEGION Magazine Published in January/February 2007 Over the past decade or so, the United States has often complained about Canada's foot dragging on defence matters. The Americans had two chief beefs: first, that Canada was engaging in virtual unilateral disarmament; second, that Canada was failing to bear an appropriate share of what they refer to as the Global War Against Terrorism. Now that Canadian troops are heavily engaged in the fight to block a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan--Canada is one of the very few North Atlantic Treaty Organization...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations, stung by a growing scandal in its purchasing department, imposed job restrictions on Friday on all staff involved in buying goods and services for the world body. The new rules, which take effect immediately, prohibit U.N. employees involved in any aspect of procurement from soliciting or accepting a job offer from any vendor doing business with the United Nations. The regulations also bar departing procurement staff from seeking or accepting a job for a period of one year from anyone involved in selling goods or services or seeking to do so. They also...

Indian Navy eyes 100 aircraft by 2020 IANS Tuesday, July 18, 2006 08:08 IST NEW DELHI:After the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Indian Navy is looking at acquiring close to 100 aircraft in a mix of fighters, patrol planes and trainers by 2020. On the shopping list are 40 to 50 MiG-29K fighters, 30 long-range maritime patrol (LRMP) aircraft and 10-15 Hawk advanced jet trainers (AJTs), navy chief Admiral Arun Praksh told India Strategic magazine in an interview. According to him, as the IAF was acquiring the Hawk trainers, it was logical for the navy to go in for either...

The Army’s Chief of Staff, General Peter Schoomaker, has recently done something extraordinary within the realm of Beltway politics – he told the truth about our Army’s readiness. His message before the House Committee on the Armed Services was simple and disturbing: Five years after 9-11 and the US Army, the service that bears the largest burden in this conflict, is still struggling to build a force capable of conducting a long -term global war within established budget constraints. This grim assessment may be hard for some to accept, but we need to know the unvarnished truth if we are to be...

WASHINGTON – Sen. John McCain on Wednesday warned of ``an emerging scandal’’ in defense procurement and vowed to block the nomination of a high-ranking defense official until he gets answers in a contract dispute involving Lockheed Martin’s C-130J transport. The accusations by the Arizona Republican, considered a leading unannounced contender in the 2008 presidential race, injected a surprise burst of drama in what was expected to be a relatively tame confirmation hearing for four defense nominees before the Senate Armed Services Committee. McCain told Michael Dominguez, President Bush’s nominee to become deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness,...

"Stanford engineers steered the world toward a new era of driverless vehicles Saturday when their robotic Volkswagen SUV was the first to cross the finish line after a 132-mile race across the Nevada desert...The best showing last year was turned in by a Carnegie Mellon robo-Hummer nicknamed Sandstorm, which went just 7.4 miles in that 142-mile course before it strayed off the road and spun its wheels until the rubber burned. Yet even that ignoble finish fired the imaginations of inventors and hobbyists, who responded in even greater numbers to DARPA's 2005 challenge. In contrast to the 15 teams that...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The top U.N. management official said Wednesday he has ordered a new investigation of the procurement division in light of a senior officer's guilty plea for taking massive bribes from United Nations contractors. The review by Christopher Burnham will add to the extraordinary level of scrutiny on the procurement department, which first gained serious attention over its involvement in the scandal-tainted U.N. oil-for-food program. It was thrust into the spotlight again on Monday, when one of its staff, Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to...

For the second time in as many days, General Assembly leaders have charged that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is ignoring laws it passed, this time a measure rescinding Maryland's participation in a contentious trade agreement pending in Congress. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch insisted in a joint letter yesterday that the governor withdraw Maryland's agreement to participate in the Central American Free Trade Agreement. "Maryland law now requires that the state be removed as a signatory to the CAFTA agreement pending before Congress. It has come to our attention, however, that, to...

The U.S. military is the toughest and most professional in the world, but one force it usually can't beat is the bureaucracy back in Washington. The Defense Department has 200,000 acquisition personnel, whose insistence on doing everything "by the numbers" slows to a crawl efforts to get vital equipment such as armor into the field. But the bureaucracy can be defeated, as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld demonstrated last week when he invoked his new "Rapid Acquisition Authority," allowing him to cut through the red tape to meet urgent battlefield needs. By invoking this power, Mr. Rumsfeld has given the Secretary...

The Pentagon's internal watchdog has begun investigating two additional contracts handled by convicted former Air Force official Darleen Druyun and could add three more deals to its growing list of possibly tainted procurements, the Pentagon said on Monday. Druyun is serving a nine-month prison term for violating federal conflict-of-interest laws by negotiating a $250,000-a-year job with Boeing Co. while still overseeing its business with the Air Force. She also admitted steering contracts to Boeing as far back as 2000. "In the course of our review, in an effort to be as thorough as possible, we decided to take a look...

About Those Un-Armored Humvees This press conference by Major General Stephen Speakes and several other officers, which took place on Wednesday, is worth reading in its entirety. The purpose of the press conference was to address the issue of "un-armored" vehicles that was raised by a National Guardsman in a question directed to Donald Rumsfeld a week or so ago. The overall impression I get is that the Army is responding appropriately to the risks posed by improvised explosive devices, and there is basically no story here. The facts regarding the Guardsman's own unit also appear to be quite different...

WASHINGTON - The Air Force continues to order a new type of cargo plane despite spending $2.6 billion to buy 50 planes that do not meet the military's requirements and cannot be flown in combat zones, Pentagon investigators said. Contractor Lockheed Martin hasn't delivered any C-130J planes that met requirements in the eight years since the program began, the report said. The Air Force and Lockheed Martin disagree. Problems with the propeller-driven cargo planes include faulty computer and diagnostic systems and inadequate defense measures, the Pentagon's Office of Inspector General concluded. So far, none of the planes has been cleared...

May 22, 2004: The U.S. Department of Defense is going through a rather extreme reorganization at the moment. It’s much more extensive than most people realize. A side effect of this is increased hostility towards current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. But not because of disagreements over Iraq or the war on terror, but because these reforms threaten defense spending in many Congressional districts, and if that money goes away, it could mean lost elections for the incumbents. Rumsfeld wants to speed up the procurement (which can now take well over a decade) process and make be more responsive to...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. There was a media firestorm last week when it was “discovered” that the United States was only going to allow American firms and those from allied countries to bid on $18.6 billion of Iraq reconstruction projects. Yet, this was old news. When the Pentagon set up its Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, its mandate was to make contracts only with American firms. The U.S. Agency for International Development had similar rules. As USAID administrator Andrew Natsios said last April,. “Some countries have complained that they were not invited to bid...

There has been a series of allegations and innuendos recently to the effect that government contracts for work in Iraq and Afghanistan are being awarded in an atmosphere redolent with the "stench of political favoritism and cronyism," to use the description in a report put out by the Center for Public Integrity on campaign contributions by companies doing work in those two countries.